The Reid Method: The Next Generation

Chapter Three- Mama, I Know You're Tired Of Being Alone

Later that night, Spencer and J.J. sat awake in their bed and discussed their plan for trying to help Henry get through his grief.

"Henry wants to stay here for another couple of days" J.J. spoke as turned to Spencer. "He's not ready to go back to New York yet. He wants to give Richard and Holly a chance to be with the rest of their family before they head back to New York and go through Lucy's things."

"Understandable" Spencer nodded. "Jo is heading back to Boston tomorrow for work. He feels bad for leaving Henry so soon but he doesn't have a lot of vacation time."

"Did he tell you about what happened in New York with Holly?" J.J. asked.

"Henry did" Spencer admitted. "He didn't go into detail but said that Jonah caught Holly cheating on him."

"They seemed okay at the funeral" J.J. pointed out.

"I think they were just being nice for their families" Spencer agreed. "Holly did just lose her sister and Henry lost his girlfriend. They wouldn't want to make the day any harder for either of them."

"When Henry goes back to New York, I'm going to go back with him" J.J. spoke changing the subject.

"I think that's a good idea" Spencer agreed.

"Owen is going to fly back with us and I'm going to take the twins with us for a little trip. It'll be good for Henry to have them around while he's going through this."

"Courtney, Elijah and Lauren are flying home with Mom in a few days, I was thinking I was going to go with them" Spencer thought out loud. "It's a terrible time to leave Henry while he's going through this."

J.J. took Spencer's hand in hers. "I think he'll be happy to have one less person hovering over him in New York."

"You might be right about that" Spencer chuckled lightly.

Three days later, Spencer, Courtney, Lauren, Elijah and Diana boarded the plane for Las Vegas. Spencer, Courtney and Lauren sat down together in a row of seats while Elijah and Diana sat in the row behind them.

Spencer spent the next four days in Las Vegas with his sister, Elijah, Lauren and his mother. He visited his mother every day he was there in Las Vegas. He talked to her about her granddaughters— her oldest granddaughter Victoria, now twenty six years old, had gotten back from a trip to Italy with her boyfriend, Zane. Natalia, or Natalie as everyone called her, is an attending cardio thoracic surgeon at the young age of twenty five. Spencer explained that Lily, Spencer's daughter, was now taking AP biology classes at the age of twelve. Diana's youngest granddaughter, Lauren, was now three years old.

Diana seemed for the most part to be in good spirits and happy, it was only little moments here and there that Spencer noticed her irritability and agitation. He shook off his hesitation knowing full well that it was normal for his mother to have ups and downs with her schizophrenia and mood swings.

It was Spencer's last day in Las Vegas when he observed for himself what Courtney had been trying to tell him. He was sitting down with his mother in the living room area of the sanitarium when they were discussing her grandsons—Henry, Jonah, Jesse, and Owen. There were only four of them now as Cameron her eldest grandson had died three years earlier.

Spencer talked about how Henry was living and working in New York and Jonah was working in Boston and they discussed how sad it had been at Lucy's funeral.

"How is Owen's heart?" Diana asked. "Did he have a check up lately?" Owen was diagnosed with HCM— Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy three years ago at the age of sixteen. His brother Cameron also had it as they both inherited the condition from their father, Connor Hayes.

"He's doing well" Spencer recalled from Natalie's description of his last appointment. She always made sure to accompany her brother to his HCM appointments to make sure he was doing well and also to make sure he wasn't lying about any changes with his heart condition.

Diana smiled happy to hear that her grandson was doing well. They had lost both Cameron and Connor as a result of their heart conditions.

"Cameron will make sure he looks after himself" Diana nodded. "He'll look after his brother, don't worry."

Spencer smiled uneasily and looked down wearily. He was sure that she meant it spiritually, that Cameron would look after his brother from the afterlife, but it was the way she said it that made Spencer think she meant it literally.

She couldn't have meant it literally, Spencer thought. Cameron has been dead for three years. Spencer shook it off and smiled at his mother genuinely and changed the subject.

Spencer returned to Quantico still contemplating what they could do to help her. He thought that by working some cases he could help other people while still trying to figure out what to do for his mother. He knew that he should tell J.J. what was going on but he didn't want to upset or take her away from Henry right now, he needed her more right now and Spencer didn't want to bother J.J. while he was with him in New York.

J.J. and the twins returned to Quantico two weeks later at the beginning of August and Spencer decided that he was going to tell her the truth about what was going on with his mother when they had a chance to be alone.

Hotch and Morgan were debriefing in Hotch's office when J.J. arrived back at the B.A.U. Montolo Guissepi had collapsed when Morgan was interviewing him at the prison.

"Welcome back!" Spencer said as he picked his wife up off the ground and hugged her. He placed a soft kiss on her lips.

"We missed you" Penelope exclaimed as Spencer set his wife back down on the floor.

Rossi gave J.J. a traditional Italian kiss, placing a kiss on each cheek.

J.J. had sent pictures of the trip while they were in New York and Garcia had taken the liberty of printing them off and having them on her desk for when she returned.

After Morgan and Hotch finished debriefing in his office, Rossi called everyone into the round table room to discuss a case that was brought forward by his daughter, Joy. The case was a 19 year old college student named Bahni who was believed to be abducted.

After reviewing the surveillance footage from where Bahni was last seen, Hotch instructed J.J. and Spencer to go to the alley and do a walk through to find out where the Unsub could have taken her.

Spencer received a text from his sister, Courtney, as they walked down the alley between the two buildings. He quickly glanced at his phone and shut the screen off, putting the phone away.

"Is everything okay?" J.J. asked as he put the phone away. She noticed that he was being abnormally quiet, something she knew he only did when something was bothering him.

"It's my mom" Spencer sighed as the two of them stopped walking and stood in the alley. "Courtney called me while we were in New York and said she wasn't doing well. That's why I went to Vegas with her and Elijah."

"Spence, why didn't you tell me?" J.J. asked, concern in her voice.

Spencer sighed again. "We were in New York with Henry when he got into the car accident and then Lucy died and then it was her funeral. I didn't want to bother you when you were with him and the twins in New York."

"Spence, I love you. If something is hurting you or worrying you, I want to be there for you. In any way I can, okay?" J.J. took his hand in hers.

"I love you" Spencer said softly.

"After the case, after we find Bahni, I think you should go back to Vegas and see your mom again."

Spencer nodded. "I will. Right now, Bahni needs us but after the case, I'm going back to Vegas to visit Mom. She needs me."

"Parents are the ultimate role models for children. Every word, movement, and action has an effect. No other person or outside force has a greater influence on a child than the parent" - Bob Keeshan